Musically, Rock and Roll hall of Fame charter member Sam Cooke is a
stumper. His voice wasn't just smooth and gritty at the same time, it
was also infinitely relaxed--for the many who adore it, a
sing-the-phonebook voice. But he was so intent on the pop market that
some curmudgeons might prefer the phone book to his orchestral
accompaniments. Fortunately, these albums avoid his clumsier
commercial endeavors. Even so, bypass Best of for Abkco's
30-track Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964, which includes all of
its 15 songs. But Night Beat gets points for conceiving pop as
lounge R&B rather than violin schlock, even if Cooke isn't always
up to the blues-tinged standards he covers and tries to write. And
Live at the Harlem Square Club, recorded at a black venue,
takes his hits fast and rough. Mythmakers claim this is the real
Cooke, which he would have denied. But it's an impressive document
whose rousing climax suggests what might have ensued if he hadn't died
two years later.